About this guide
Making a difference
Successful music learning programs share certain factors.
Teachers are influential. Allowing your students insight into your musical life is important. Sharing how music is part of your life is one way that teachers can make students aware of the possibilities for a ‘life in music’. Researchers consistently report that the passion, enthusiasm and authenticity demonstrated by the teacher is the engaging factor rather than their actual musical expertise.
A great music teacher isn’t someone who necessarily has all the answers. Excellent music teaching can occur in an ‘all learning together’ environment in which both teachers and students explore and learn something new. Teachers don’t always have to be the ‘expert’. Having a healthy curiosity to find out and a willingness delve into the many resources and links this guide shares can be the start of a high-quality music experience for you and your students.
Planning is just as important as commitment. If the people delivering the music program have no interest in what they are teaching, then the experience for students will be lacklustre.
Think about
How do you describe your musical life?
How would your students describe your musical life? How would they describe their musical life? How can you and your students share your musical lives?
When and how do you let students and families know about opportunities for making or listening to music in the community and beyond?
What new music have you discovered this year? Who have you told about your discovery?
What would be the chart-topper in your school’s Top 100? How many styles and genres might be on the list?
Reading
Townsend, A (2011) Introduction to Effective Music Teaching: Artistry and Attitude. Boulder, Guildford, Lanham and New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Chapter 7, ‘Forming your personal philosophy of music education: What do you believe is important in teaching and learning music?’, addresses teacher identity and looks at the need for teachers to convey their love of music to students.
‘The lens of pedagogy’ in The qualities of quality: Understanding excellence in arts education (Eds. Seidel, S, Tishman, S, Winner, E, et al.) Boston: Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2009., (pp. 34-7) discusses authenticity.
Welch, G, & McPherson, G (2012) Introduction and Commentary: Music Education and the Role of Music in People’s Lives. In (Eds. Welch, G, & McPherson, G), The Oxford Handbook of Music Education, Volume 1: Oxford University Press.
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